GM eyed ignition switch upgrade

Company's flaws in redesign efforts led to 13 deaths

Associated Press

Associated Press

Published 7:34 pm, Monday, July 7, 2014

FILE - In this April 1, 2014 file photo, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., ranking member of the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, holds up a GM ignition switch while she questions General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Capitol Hill in Washington. Responding to complaints about "cheap-feeling" switches that required too much effort to turn, General Motors set about making new ones that would work more smoothly and give drivers the impression that they were better designed, a GM switch engineer testified in a lawsuit deposition in the spring of 2013. The switches, though, were too loose, touching off events that led to at least 13 deaths, more than 50 crashes and a raft of legal trouble for the Detroit automaker. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) ORG XMIT: NYBZ138

FILE - In this April 1, 2014 file photo, Rep. Diana DeGette,...

FILE - This Tuesday, April 1, 2014 file photo shows a key in the ignition switch of a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt in Alexandria, Va. Responding to complaints about "cheap-feeling" switches that required too much effort to turn, General Motors set about making new ones that would work more smoothly and give drivers the impression that they were better designed, a GM switch engineer testified in a lawsuit deposition in the spring of 2013. The switches, though, were too loose, touching off events that led to at least 13 deaths, more than 50 crashes and a raft of legal trouble for the Detroit automaker. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File) ORG XMIT: NYBZ137

FILE - This Tuesday, April 1, 2014 file photo shows a key in the...

File-This July 14, 2010, file photo shows Cadillac CTS vehicles being displayed outside the LaFountaine Cadillac in Highland Township, Mich. General Motors safety crisis worsened on Monday, June 30, 2014, when the automaker added 8.2 million vehicles to its huge list of cars recalled over faulty ignition switches. The latest recalls cover seven vehicles, including the Chevrolet Malibu from 1997 to 2005 and the Pontiac Grand Prix from 2004 to 2008. The recalls also cover a newer model, the 2003-2014 Cadillac CTS. GM said the recalls are for unintended ignition key rotation. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) ORG XMIT: NY114

General Motors' deadly ignition switch flaws emerged from an effort to improve its cars.

As the company began developing new small cars in the late 1990s, it listened to customers who complained about "cheap-feeling" switches that required too much effort to turn. GM set about making switches that would work more smoothly and give drivers the impression that they were better designed, a GM switch engineer testified in a lawsuit deposition in the spring of 2013.

The switches, though, were too loose, touching off events that led to at least 13 deaths, more than 50 crashes and a raft of legal trouble for the Detroit automaker.

Former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas, hired by GM in March to investigate the switch problems, told a congressional subcommittee last month that GM wanted each small-car ignition to "feel like it was a European sports car or something." After years of lagging behind the Japanese, GM was eager to make better, more competitive small cars.

But as it turned out, the new switches in models such as the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion can unexpectedly slip from "run" to "accessory," causing engines to stall. That shuts off the power steering, making cars harder to control, and disables air bags in crashes. GM says the problem has caused at least 13 deaths, but some members of Congress put the death toll near 100.

The problem led GM to recall 2.6 million small cars in February, and forced the company to admit it knew about the switch troubles for more than a decade before taking action. It has touched off federal investigations and prodded GM to review other safety issues, leading to 54 recalls this year covering 29 million vehicles.

The Associated Press traced the history of the problem using Valukas' report as well as a deposition of GM switch engineer Ray DeGiorgio that was released by a House subcommittee. The deposition was also released by lawyers suing GM, but DeGiorgio's comments were redacted in that version.

In a wrongful death case in Georgia, DeGiorgio testified that he started out trying to make the switches easier to turn. But from the beginning he was consumed by electrical issues in the switch, not its mechanical parts.

When the switch supplier, Delphi, pointed out tests showing the switches turned too easily, DeGiorgio told Delphi not to change them because he was concerned mechanical alterations would harm the switch's electrical performance, according to Valukas.

Delphi spokeswoman Claudia Tapia said the company isn't commenting on the details of GM's recall.

In the end, DeGiorgio approved switches that were far below GM's specifications for the force required to turn them. The result was a smooth-turning key, but also one that could slip out of position. Several years later, DeGiorgio signed off on a design change that fixed the problem, but he didn't change the part number, which stymied later attempts to figure out what was wrong with the cars.

Repeated efforts to reach DeGiorgio have been unsuccessful. He was one of 15 employees dismissed by the company last month due to the recalls. At a House subcommittee hearing last month, GM CEO Mary Barra didn't mince words when lawmakers asked her about DeGiorgio's statements to Valukas and congressional investigators.

"I don't find Mr. DeGiorgio credible," Barra said.

GM spokesman Greg Martin said Valukas' report cites several chances that the company missed to fix the problem before switches went into production. It has issued five recalls for 17.1 million cars with switch problems this year.